The Virtual Blog Tour is all about the creative process and has three simple rules:

1. Compose a one-time post which is posted on Monday (date will be given to you from whoever passes on the tour).

2. Answer these four questions about your creative process which lets other bloggers and visitors know what inspires you to do what you do:

What am I working on?

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Why do I write/create what I do?

How does your writing/creating process work?

3. Pass the tour on to up to four other bloggers. Get their permission first, give them rules and a specific Monday to post.

Here’s my Virtual Blog Tour: :)

What am I working on?

Nothing in particular! I write poetry every day, so I guess that counts. . . I’m also busy writing up the events I’ve been involved with as part of my horticultural training, like a study trip to Belgium and other conferences and seminars.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

This is a tough one! To be honest I have no idea. I think writing is a very personal matter which means everyone can interpret the same piece of writing in a different way – we never look at the world through identical pairs of eyes. It’s a bit like art, I’m not saying Picasso wasn’t talented, just that his style wasn’t for me!

The main aim I hope to achieve with my writing is to inspire people. I hope my passion for what I do and what I write about can translate to others – my positive and passionate writing style is what differs me from the rest. ;)

Why do I write/create what I do?

Because I have to! I couldn’t not write, it would be like not breathing. Poetry is the way I express myself most freely, I’ve been doing that since I was old enough to pick up a pen. I share my love of plants because, again, I just have to. When I’m as passionate about my life as I am it’s impossible to keep that enthusiasm to myself. Writing is a part of me, it’s not a chore – it’s a joy.

How does my writing/creating process work?

I have to be honest here – it is pretty random! I think the best way to sum it up would be “organised chaos”. I never have a certain time in the day I set aside for writing, although I’d keep my blogs up to date a hell of a lot more if there was!

My poetry is ongoing, I have a little notebook I take with me everywhere – even at work. My job as a horticulturist involves me spending all my time outside, so nature is my main inspiration for my poetry.

I write about my plant life as and when things happen. I’m always visiting gardens, getting involved with horticultural events, and working in a beautiful garden of course. I probably share as many photos of plants as I do words in a post but hey – a picture is worth a thousand words! In short I write whenever I’m inspired.

There we go! Hope you enjoyed the read and learnt something new about my writing style from this blog tour. I’d like to invite the following bloggers to participate in this Virtual Blog Tour on the 15th December:

Last month I went on a coach trip to Brighton – it was my summer holiday in a day! I’ve always wanted to visit it, ever since watching the series “Sugar Rush” which is based in the centre of Brighton. It was weird seeing the different landmarks I recognised from a TV screen!

The day couldn’t have had more perfect weather, it was gloriously hot and sunny. After spending nearly two hours on a coach it was heavenly stepping out into baking hot sunshine. We parked directly opposite the Pier, I got incredibly excited as soon as I saw the sea – it’s the best reminder of home.

Brighton Pier

The beach

Views from the Pier

I could have spent all day on the beach but instead I went exploring. I found the town centre and was looking for the famous Lanes which I eventually stumbled across by accident! It was a series of tiny, narrow streets, filled with the most awesome, eclectic shops. I actually started my Christmas shopping then and there, I knew I wouldn’t find presents anywhere else like it!

The Lanes

I then saw the Royal Pavilion, it was pretty hard to miss it! It had a really authentic oriental appearance, it was strange seeing it in a place like Brighton – it’s the sort of thing you expect to see in India! Nonetheless it was a magnificent building, a definite highlight.

Royal Pavilion

I went round Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, seeing as it was practically next to the Royal Pavilion. I learnt a lot about the history of Brighton just by reading the snippets of information in the different sections.

Various things in the museum

Loved this quirky library!

I loved the Performance and Fashion areas the most, my favourites were the Punch and Judy puppets and a pair of pointe shoes worn by Galina Siderenko for Les Ballets in 1933. How cool is that!

Punch and Judy

Ballet shoes

I thought the old-fashioned bathing costumes were brilliant, I’d wear one of them nowadays!

Fashion items

My favourite bathing costume!

On the way back to the Pier I saw a park with a lovely water feature and a colourful bedding display. Cosmos with dahlias worked wonderfully!

Bedding display

I saw the Brighton Dome too!

I had fish and chips on the beach, how could I not?! It was heaving with people by lunch time, it’s clear why Brighton is such a holiday hot-spot.

Views of the beach

I saw the wreck of the West Pier which was hauntingly beautiful, especially with seagulls circling overhead.

West Pier

Grumpy seagull!

I went on the Brighton Wheel and saw stunning views – I could see for miles! The sea stretched on forever, I suddenly realised how long the Pier went on for. I could have done all my sight-seeing from that one spot!

Views from Brighton Wheel

I had an ice-cream on the promenade before the journey home, the best way to end my day in Brighton. I hope you enjoyed the photos. :)

When my parents came to visit me the other week I gave my dad his belated Father’s Day present – a tour of Harry Potter World! Aren’t I the best daughter ever?!

Me and dad outside the Warner Bros. Studios

As I only live half an hour away from the Warner Bros. Studios it made perfect sense to go there. Me and my dad are big fans of Harry Potter, we didn’t go as far as dressing up in costume for the tour but it was tempting!

Harry’s bedroom

The Yule Ball

Corridor in the Leaky Cauldron

Costumes

When we were waiting for the tour to begin I could see faces from all over the world had come to see the studios where all the magic happened – literally. There were people from Japan, Australia, America. . . it suddenly hit me what a big global sensation Harry Potter is.

The Great Hall

Snape’s Classroom

We spent four hours looking round, it was great being able to look at everything in your own time, after the initial introduction from the very enthusiastic WB Studio staff of course. The first studio had all the different sets, like the Great Hall, Dumbledore’s Office, Snape’s classroom, Hagrid’s Hut, the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory, as well as costumes, props and more.

Dumbledore’s Office

The Burrow

Hagrid’s Hut

Various props

Triwizard Tournament Trophy

Horcruxes

Chamber of Secrets door

Mad Eye Moody’s Trunk

Flying side-car

Time for Quidditch!

I loved reading about all the little details which made the films so authentic – for example the books on the shelves in Dumbledore’s Office are just British phonebooks covered in leather. How cool is that!

Gryffindor Boy’s Dormitory and Common Room

Ministry of Magic Fireplace

Dolores Umbridge’s costumes and office

More props

Newspaper snippets and Harry’s letters

The Marauder’s Map

There was also a green room where you could actually ride a broomstick as well as sit in the flying car from the second film – of course I had a go, dad restrained himself however! I wore a massive robe down to my ankles, when I picked up the photos afterwards I was pretty surprised at how good a witch I made!

The Knight Bus (and me!)

Flying cars!

We then stepped outside into brilliant sunshine, it was a gorgeous summer’s evening. I loved wandering round the Studio’s Backlot, it had all the exterior sets like the Knight Bus, chess pieces, the Hogwarts Bridge and the flying car and side-car.

The Hogwarts Bridge

Chess Pieces

My favourite was Privet Drive, I nearly squeaked when I saw it. It felt like I had been transported into a scene from a Harry Potter film! It was so strange seeing it for real after seeing it so many times on the TV.

Privet Drive

We had to buy a Butterbeer, how could we refuse?! It was a very peculiar taste, the only way I can describe it is like cold fizzy hot chocolate. It was quite nice for the first few mouthfuls then it became a tad sickly!

Butterbeer!

Goblins and Dobby

Buckbeak

Other familiar faces!

We spent ages in the Creature Effects Studio, it was incredible seeing things like the goblin heads, Buckbeak the Hippogriff, Hagrid’s head, Dobby, Fawkes the Phoenix, etc, in front of my eyes. They were unbelievably lifelike, it was great learning about how they were made and which things were hand-controlled and which bits were actually worn by actors.

Dragons

Fawkes

Hedwig

Voldemort’s Soul

Hagrid, Hermione, Draco, Dumbledore, Harry

I nearly gave myself a heart attack at one point, I looked up and saw the massive spider Aragog glaring down at me! I don’t mind spiders but seeing that above my head was something else!

Aragog

Gringotts

Diagon Alley

It was so cool walking through Diagon Alley and seeing Gringotts, Ollivanders and the Weasley twins shop. I half-expected to see Harry, Ron and Hermione come strolling round the corner!

Art and Graphics

Sketches and drawings

The Art and Graphics department at the very end was the most surprising and amazing for sure. The walls were covered in drawings and sketches of props like broomsticks and the Durmstrang Ship. My brother is a fantasy illustrator and I kept thinking to myself how much he would have loved looking in detail at the hand-drawn pictures. Even though I’m no artist I could still appreciate the enormous amount of hard work it must have taken to achieve all of it.

Small scale models

We were teased by being shown small scale models of things like the Womping Willow and the Prefect’s Bathroom, then we went through a set of doors and had our breath completely taken away. . . SPOILER ALERT!!

Hogwarts Castle – OMG!

There was a 1:24 scale model of the Hogwarts castle in full view, it was phenomenal! It was used for exterior shots in the films, I couldn’t believe how realistic it was. You could see it from all angles, the detail was magnificent – that is what I call a work of art.

To complete the tour we looked round the gift shop. It was very expensive, especially for my student budget, so I made do with a keyring and fridge magnet! It was an awesome, unforgettable experience, it is definitely worth going if you are even a little bit of a Harry Potter fan – you won’t regret it! :)

Life has been pretty busy the past few weeks, it’s been non-stop going from one thing to another! My weekends have been taken up for the past month with extra dance classes. I found a local adult ballet class in January which I had been attending once a week and around Easter time my teacher asked if I’d like to be part of a show they put on each summer for charity. I said yes of course!

Red Kite Dance Company and Friends

The performance was called “Dancing Together” by the Red Kite Dance Company and friends, in aid of Carers Bucks and the NSPCC. It was such a great night, I had a fantastic time! I was in two dances as well as a finale piece we learnt together as a group. The dances I was in were called “Rosehips” and “Greensleeves”.

Me with my dance teacher

Some group shots

“Rosehips” was a beautiful folk-style dance, which involved dancing with partners – lots of weaving and turning each other round! It was choreographed so anyone of any age and dance ability would be able to learn it. The age range for the performance went from me at twenty years old to an inspirational lady of eighty five years old!

Some of the “Rosehips” dancers

“Greensleeves” was a classical ballet piece, based on some of the history from where I work at the moment, Ashridge. A very cool coincidence! I had a small section where I was dancing on my own, a short adage solo. It was choreographed to a beautiful piece of music, definitely my favourite dance out of the two.

Greensleeves dancers

The finale was a contemporary piece, we danced with partners for half of it and as a group for the other half. It was a really carefree, fun dance, a very fitting tribute for the final performance of the night.

Action shot backstage of the Finale Dance

The last dance class was a few days ago, it was sad saying goodbye to everyone! Even though the people in my class are a lot older than me we still got on really well – I had great friendships with two women in particular.

Selfie!

My favourite dancers!

I may find another dance class when I move to Wales but it won’t be the same as the one here in Hertfordshire. Who knows, we may end up dancing together again in the future. . . :)

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